The image that will outlast the Kyirong catastrophe is of the port’s immigration building being swept away in seconds as people fled on the morning of 26 August. Border ports are routinely described as places of transit and bridges between nations. For Tibetans this one was neither: a crossing effectively closed to them in both directions, sealing a frontier that for centuries was no barrier at all.
lørdag 10. oktober 2026
A DAMOCLES SWORD OVER THE DEEP VALLEYS OF THE ROOF OF THE WORLD
Nearly four weeks after a devastating flood of water, ice, rock and sediment swept down the valley at Kyirong on the border of Tibet and Nepal, a catastrophic loss of life has been compounded by a climate of fear as Chinese authorities threaten reprisals for anyone expressing views that may differ from those of the Party state. One netizen was penalised after they gave a higher figure for those missing than the official line and said that the disaster was “heartbreaking”.
The image that will outlast the Kyirong catastrophe is of the port’s immigration building being swept away in seconds as people fled on the morning of 26 August. Border ports are routinely described as places of transit and bridges between nations. For Tibetans this one was neither: a crossing effectively closed to them in both directions, sealing a frontier that for centuries was no barrier at all.
The image that will outlast the Kyirong catastrophe is of the port’s immigration building being swept away in seconds as people fled on the morning of 26 August. Border ports are routinely described as places of transit and bridges between nations. For Tibetans this one was neither: a crossing effectively closed to them in both directions, sealing a frontier that for centuries was no barrier at all.